After It All
by Rays of Color
Summary: A series of musically-inspired one-shots from the album "After It All" by Delta Rae. Some chapters will be in my 'ATSO' universe, others will be in movie canon, some might be ambiguous. First Chapter: "Chasing Twisters", a study in Toothless' life before meeting Hiccup.


Delta Rae – a series of musically inspired one-shots

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**A/N:** hey all! I am totally in love with the new album from my favorite band, "After it all" by Delta Rae. They're an interesting mix of blue. rock, pop, and country. The new album is awesome and has a lot of feeling behind it, thus inspiring this series.  


The first chapter examines Toothless' life when he was a part of the Nest, pre-HTTYD. It's fairly dark and hopeless, matching the feel of the song that inspired it. Toothless refers to himself as "Keir" (Gaelic for dark/black), my headcanon name for himself. Its the same name used in my story "As The Skies Open", and my headcanons fit that universe too if you've read my progress on its sequel "We Soar Above the Clouds", but this isn't necessarily bound to that universe. Hiccup isn't mentioned, so it could fit anything from "ATSO" to the movie itself.

I hope you enjoy, and please favorite and review! I'm hoping to get more chapters up soon, as these are quicker to write than my stories (which are not abandoned, just on hold while I'm in school!) and your feedback is my guide!

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"I was born with lightning in my heels  
Sewed a spur onto my ankle  
Bitter horse under the steel  
And I lost hope when I was still so young  
Had an angel on my shoulder  
But the devil always won

And oh, I lost it all when I got hurt  
And I can feel you even now  
Breakin' horses in the sky  
I can taste you in my rage  
And in the sweat upon my brow

And I went home,  
Chasing twisters in the canyon  
My cathedral is the badlands  
Dust and devils on my conscience  
Come back to me darlin'" - _Chasing Twisters, _Delta Rae

Night had fallen, and deep within Airdsgainne the dragons were stretching their wings, perparing for another raid, another night of violence. Another night of mindless slavery to Aiofe. Of course, none of them were self-aware enough to even realize they were slaves to her every whim. Aoife ruled with an unmatched ferocity, clamping her will down on every dragon in her realm. Even when they all rested within the caverns of Airdsgainne, she kept her command over their minds. Not enough to rob her flock of their every thought, but enough to keep them from acting on a whim to fly outside without her permission, to keep them from wondering why they simply huddled in the shadows of a musty volcanic cavern every moment that wasn't spent on a raid.

Aoife heaved a mighty wail from her lava pit, and the dragons took flight all at once, as if they were all of the same being physically as much as they were mentally. Whirling in one great mass, thousands of dragons spiraled out of the hollow mountain. As they spewed from the peak, they split in many directions to begin their pillaging of the surrounding areas. Some would fly nearly a hundred miles to uninhabited islands that were rich in game, some to closer bountiful areas, and a specific group to the nearby Isle of Berk, dangerous because its inhabitants fought back, but provided fat livestock that Aiofe had acquired a taste for over the last seven human generations.

But one member of the Berk raid group simply didn't belong. He was a fairly young, sleek black creature, invisible in the night, stealthy, and incredibly fast on the air. It would have made much more sense for Aiofe to send such a skilled flier to the further regions of her domain. He was fast and could easily cover the distance there and back without rest, a rare skill amongst her flock. But Aiofe kept him close, because there were dangers in sending this youngling to the edges of her domain.

The joy of flight shook her control over him, which loosened further with distance.

The youngling in question was currently only a few miles from her pit, and his mind was nothing but a roar of Aoife's _FOOD FOOD FOOD! BRING ME TRIBUTE OR BE PREPARED TO BECOME TRIBUTE!_

He skimmed close to the water, gaining speed in order to satisfy his Alpha more quickly. His eyes were trained unblinkingly on the dark horizon. He pushed his wings harder, his wingbeats faster, all from the pressure of Aiofe's commands.

And gradually, bit by little bit, that pressure began to ease. No, not ease, it began to fall away, like the shedding of loose scales borne away with the wind. An air current, scented with the tang of the open sea, caught the youngling's wings. He rose with the current, following its swirling patterns and banking sharply to rise high in the sky. As the friendly wind finally petered out, he emerged from it with a great loop. The air buffeted him from every direction as he reached the apex of the loop, the dark world upside down and so far away.

And yet suddenly everything was right-side up for the first time in a long time.

Keir's mind felt fuzzy, like he hadn't used it in a very long time. He eased out of his loop, gliding effortlessly in the high winds as he slowly came back to himself. He wasn't the nameless black youngling that he spent so much time thinking of himself as. He was a descendent of lightning and the darkest night, the most promising flier of his nest mates and indeed the entire Nest of the Night Furies.

His excellence had led him to become impatient and testy and vain. He left Jan Mayen only a few decades into his life, seeking adventure and eager to test his already stellar flying prowess. But he was blinded by his own hubris. He thought that because he was the best flier of his peers, a considerable accomplishment as Night Furies were immensely talented fliers by nature, he was invincible. After all, there was no creature he couldn't outfly.

But Aoife didn't need to outfly him. She ensnared him and enslaved him with a simple flick of her mighty will, only a few years after he rashly left his homeland. Keir thought bitterly of how blind and stupid he'd been, thinking himself untouchable. He'd lost so much time, so many years. Worst of all, he lost his freedom. And it wasn't just that he fell under the command of a cruel Alpha, no. He lost his mind and will to this overlord.

Only the joy of flight could break her absolute rule over his mind. He could remember now, how episodes like this were not uncommon when Aoife sent her minions out to steal tribute for her. She stretched her control by sending out all of her Nest, and that combined with the freedom of flight restored his mind to him.

But never for long, he realized, and his heart clenched painfully in fear and sorrow. He could still feel her in his mind, and even as he fought to rid himself of her presence she grew stronger.

_No, no no no NO!_ Keir fought back, his flight switching from smooth and graceful into stilted flaps and awkward lurching as he devoted all his efforts to throwing Aoife from his mind. Cold panic settled in his bones and blood as he felt himself loosing, felt Aoife's presence growing ever stronger.

_I am Keir. I am a descendent of the mighty Night Furies, I am the best flier my kind has seen in many decades, and I will not be lost again! _He roared furiously, thrashing his head back and forth as if to fling the cruel Queen from his mind.

_I will not lose myself! I will not bow to your will again! I WILL HAVE MY FREEDOM! I will have my freedom! I will have my freedom. I will have my..._

The youngling blinked his eyes, and seeing his distance from the pack, quickly swooped back down to join them. His stilted wingbeats settled down into smooth flight again, and even as he submitted fully to Aoife's will, he felt some distant sense of loss. It was as if there was something muted and dull about his restored smooth flight, a dreary mimicry of something great he _should_ be doing.

With a sudden sense of pressure increasing in the youngling's mind, the saudade slipped quietly away, and he became just another drone in the flock.

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**A/N:** Saudade is a portugese word that describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves.

I hope that was as dark and despairing as promised. For those who haven't read ATSO, "Aoife" is a gaellic name meaning "warrior princess" or "warrior queen". Airdsgainne is the dragon name for the Nest in HTTYD1, gaelic, meaning "from the height of the clouds". While I use the references from ATSO, this doesn't exclusively fit in that universe. Review and favorite if you enjoyed! Let me know what songs you'd like to see me write next, or what characters you'd like featured :)


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